54 Azadeh Dastyari and Asher Hirsch This distinction is significant because it means that a person who meets the definition of a refugee is a refugee even if they are prevented from accessing protection. That is, extraterritorial measures adopted by Australia, or any other country, which prevent the entry of a refugee, do not negate the status of the individual as a rights holder under international law. In the last two decades, refugee arrivals in Australia have included Hazara and other Afghani refugees escaping the violence of the Taliban; Iraqi refugees fleeing sectarian violence in their war-torn state; and members of the LGBTQI community, political activists, evangelical Christians, and other persecuted minority groups fleeing the Iranian regime. Such individuals make the difficult and dangerous journey to Australia in search of safety because they have little choice. Almost all such refugees pass through transit states in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, to reach Australia. They are unable to seek protection in these transit countries because these states have not ratified the Refugee Convention and therefore do not have any legal obligation to offer refugees protection. The refugees in transit states are often left without legal status in a precarious and at times dangerous situation. The ability of the refugees to come to Australia and find protection, therefore, is paramount for their safety. Refugees arriving irregularly to Australia, however, have not been viewed favorably by successive Australian governments. Policies that deter and deny refugees access to Australian territory, regardless of their desperation or need, have enjoyed bipartisan support from both Australia’s center-left Labor party and the center-right Liberal and National Coalition parties. Governments wishing to exercise a high degree of control over Australian borders have also been assisted by the country’s geography. Australia’s isolation and lack of land borders has helped it to implement a number of extraterritorial migration control measures, that is, actions outside of Australian territory that allow it to prevent the irregular arrival of refugees by both sea and air. These “non-entrée policies”2 effectively stop would-be refugees from leaving their own countries, or keep refugees in countries that have not ratified the Refugee Convention and that have less capacity to protect refugees and uphold their rights. Many of the extraterritorial border control measures adopted by Australia have focused on stopping irregular boat arrivals. Refugees arriving by boat, in particular, have been viewed as a grave risk to Australian society.3 Stopping the refugee boats 2 3 2011), } 28, www.refworld.org/docid/4f33c8d92.html; J. C. Hathaway and M. Foster, The Law of Refugee Status (2nd ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 25. J. C. Hathaway, The Rights of Refugees under International Law (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 291. F. H. McKay, S. L. Thomas, and R. W. Blood, “‘Any One of These Boat People Could Be a Terrorist for All We Know!’ Media Representations and Public Perceptions of ‘Boat People’ Arrivals in Australia” (2011) 12(5) Journalism 607–626. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108914994 Published online by Cambridge University Press